4th February 2025: Prince Karim Aga Khan Passes Away, Prince Rahim Aga Khan Named as Ismaili Imam
Report by Khowari
His Highness Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, spiritual leader of the Ismaili Shia Muslim community and known for his development work around the world, passed away in Lisbon, Portugal aged 88.
Prince Karim Aga Khan, also known as Maulana Shah Karim Al-Husaini by his followers, was the 49th hereditary Imam of the Nizari Ismaili Muslims. He is survived by three sons and a daughter.
Prince Karim Ag Khan was born on December 13, 1936, in Geneva and spent his early childhood in Nairobi, Kenya. He later returned to Switzerland, attending the exclusive Le Rosey School before going to the United States to study Islamic history at Harvard.
Also Read: 1987: Prince Karim Aga Khan’s visit to Chitral
When his grandfather Imam Sultan Mahomed Shah Aga Khan III died in 1957, he became the imam of the Ismaili Muslims, a branch of Shia Islam, at the age of 20.
He is believed by Ismailis to be a direct descendant of the Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) through the prophet’s cousin and son-in-law, Ali, and his wife Fatima, the prophet’s daughter.
The Aga Khan IV was a defender of Islamic culture and values and was widely regarded as a builder of bridges between Muslim societies and the West despite his reticence to become involved with politics.
He was widely revered internationally by various communities and leaders for his services to the humanity, and held British, French, Swiss, and Portuguese citizenship.
Also Read: May 2024: Princess Zahra Aga Khan Visits Chitral
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), his main philanthropic organisation, deals principally with healthcare, housing, education, and rural economic development. It claims to work in more than 30 countries, employing 96,000 people and has an annual budget of about $1bn for development activities. It helps to build schools and hospitals in the poorest parts of Africa and Asia.
Chitral and Gilgit-Baltistan, a home to nearly a million Ismailis, received his generous contribution in the form of health care, schools and rural development. His services raised the quality of life of both Ismailis and the communities among whom they live in these remote and marginalized areas.
With profound sadness, the Jamat is informed that our beloved 49th hereditary Imam, Mawlana Shah Karim Al-Hussaini, passed peacefully to Almighty Allah’s grace on 4 February 2025 in Lisbon, Portugal, surrounded by his family. Visit https://t.co/v5hpIQ7HI1 for more information. pic.twitter.com/STvmNiPses
— The Ismaili (@TheIsmaili) February 4, 2025
Hours later, his eldest son Prince Rahim was announced to be the 50th of the nearly 1.5 million Ismailis world-wide. He was entitled as the Aga Khan V and Maulana Shah Rahim Al-Husaini Hazir Imam.
The funeral rites of Prince Karim Aga Khan were held in the Ismaili Centre Lisbon, on 8th February which was attended by senior Jamati leaders and family members. President of Portugal, the Prime Minister of Canada, and other senior international leaders attended to honour Shah Karim’s extraordinary life of service as Imam of the Ismailis and founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN).
The historic event was live-streamed for the global Ismaili Jamat who gathered in Jamatkhanas to bid a farewell to their 49th Imam who guided for 68 years.
Pakistan announced country-wide mourning on the 8th of February while the government of Gilgit-Baltistan 3 days of mourning on the demise of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV. Pakistan’s Finance minister Muhammad Aurangzeb represented the country in the final rites while President Asif Ali Zardari travelled to Lisbon to offer his condolences.
He was laid to rest on 9th February, according to his will, in Aswan Egypt, on the bank of River Nile, inside the mausoleum where his grandfather Aga Khan III rests. He will be shifted to a new mausoleum which will be built in the same area.
The Diwan of the Ismaili Imamat in Lisbon was the setting for a momentous event in the Jamat’s history today, the Takht-nishini of Mawlana Shah Rahim al-Hussaini Hazar Imam, on his ascension to the office of Imamat as 50th Imam of the Shia Ismaili Muslims.
Hazar Imam graciously… pic.twitter.com/4oMHiBWIkh
— The Ismaili (@TheIsmaili) February 11, 2025
Following the death of Princes Karim Aga Khan, condolences poured in globally and from various communities in Citral and Gilgit-Baltistan with commendations for the valuable services, the Aga Khan offered for the region during his lifetime. People from all walk of lives gathered in Ismaili Council offices to offer their condolences in Gilgit, Chitral and Hunza.
On 11th of February 2025, Prince Rahim Aga Khan V, the eldest son of Prince Karim Aga Khan IV, was formally ascended to the office of Imamat in a dignified Takht-Nishini ceremony held in Diwan of Imamat in Lisbon, Portugal. Dressed in the traditional robe, Prince Rahim Aga Khan accepted pledges of allegiance made on behalf of the global Ismaili Jamat by the Chairman of the Ismaili Leaders’ International Forum and the Presidents of each Ismaili Council. For the first time ever, countless Ismailis were able to participate via live stream at Jamatkhanas all over the world.
In his first speech to his Jamat, Prince Rahim Aga Khan pledged to dedicate his life to care for the spiritual and material well-being of the Ismaili Jamat, and spoke of the principles of the Ismaili Muslim faith, the importance of keeping a balance between worldly and spiritual matters, and the regular practice of the faith. His Farman focused on universal concepts of peace, tolerance, inclusion and support for those in need. He said he wants his Jamat to be loyal and active citizens of the countries in which they live and urged us to lead by example in matters related to climate change.
To mark the accession of Prince Rahim Al-Hussaini Aga Khan as the 50th hereditary Imam of the Shi’a Ismaili Muslim community, and in accordance with long-standing tradition, The UK King Charles II granted the new Aga Khan the title ‘His Highness’ on 10th February 2025.
Posted on 10 February 2025
